All Christians are immersed in culture. As I have previously said, people are made for culture. We can’t escape it, and we can’t do without it. All the everyday things we use, the conversations we engage, the work we do, everything about our homes, manners, avocations, and interests – all this is culture, and we are engaged with it all our waking moments.

The challenge to the Christian is to remember that Jesus Christ is reconciling the world to God. His Spirit and Word are at work in the world to bring forth the glory of God for all to see, so that more people may know the wonder and joy of the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, and so that they might be influenced for love by the manifestations of God’s glory they see.

Principally, as we’ve seen, God intends to bring His glory to light through those He has redeemed and come to indwell by His Spirit. Thus, in every aspect of our lives, and in all our cultural activities, we must be diligent to allow the glory of God to show through in us, so that the love God has for humankind and the world can be plainly seen by all.

Prepare your mind

The Apostle Peter encouraged a community of Christians who were beginning to experience the animosity of their neighbors to hold the line for Christ, and, by the exercise of their own unique gifts and callings, to advance the presence and rule of King Jesus, even in the midst of a hostile environment. He called them to prepare their minds to act in ways that would glorify God (1 Pet. 1.13).

If these Christians were going to stand out as true followers of Christ, they would have to apply themselves to careful planning and continual vigilance, so that they made the most of every opportunity to further a culture of love.

This is good advice for us as well. Jesus prescribed a simple but profound mindset for everything we do in this world: Think about what you want others to do for you, and do the same for them.

In the self-centered culture of our day people tend to do unto others whatever others do unto them, or whatever they suspect others might be thinking about doing unto them. This is not the way to build a culture of love. We who desire to know and enjoy the love of God above all else must devote ourselves to the task, in all our cultural activities, as in all our relationships, of showing the love of God to others in ways we would want it shown to us.

A few examples

I want to end this series with us thinking in very practical terms about how such a mindset might guide us, day by day, in the pursuit of a culture of love.

For example, what you don’t want to happen to you during the day is for selfish, grumpy, conniving people to take advantage of you or try to make you miserable. So how do you keep from being such a person yourself? Obviously, begin your day with the Lord, and go with Him from your time of reading and meditation to a daily walk of circumspection and prayer, yielding every moment of your time and everything you do to His will and Spirit (Eph. 5.15-21; Phil. 2.12, 13).

Second, it might be nice if people spoke with you during the day, especially if their conversation was interesting, showed concern for you and your wellbeing, and left you feeling edified and, well, loved. Can you be such a conversationalist with others? If you plan for it, pray continually about it, and commit all your conversations to the Lord, you’ll be surprised at what He can do.

The same applies to all the rest of your life. If you want the people at your job to give their all and do excellent work, then lead the way by your own example. How you drive your car, the manner in which you take your meals, the music you listen to, the websites you peruse – indeed, every single one of your cultural activities needs to be engaged with this one thought in mind: In order to glorify God in our cultural lives, and to promote love for God and neighbors by means of our cultural activities, we must keep the Golden Rule in mind, and take it seriously as a simple but profound guide for achieving a culture of love.

Next steps

Try this out with a few of the cultural opportunities you’re likely to engage today: Your dress, demeanor, conversations, work ethic, life at home, leisure time. Make a list of what today’s cultural engagements will look like. Then, beside each item, jot down one way you might apply the Golden Rule to that activity. Share your list with a Christian friend, and ask him or her to pray for you as you work to achieve a culture of love in your own personal life.

Additional Resources

Download this week’s study, The Purpose of Culture.

You can also download the two previous ViewPoint studies in this series, Engaging Culture and Redeeming Culture, by clicking here and here.

For a brief study of what it means to pursue culture every day for the glory of God, order T. M.’s book, Christians on the Front Lines of the Culture Wars by clicking here.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.